JOIN USDisappointed after bowing out of the IPL, Rajasthan Royals coach Paddy Upton said Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Mandeep Singh and A B de Villiers took the game away from them.
“It was an anti-climax,” said Upton of the 71-run loss in the Eliminator clash on Wednesday. “I think we had very good build-up to the game. At nine overs, we had them 47/1 which I think was a very good start made by us. Then Mandeep came and played a very good innings and with AB (de Villiers) at the crease we knew there was always trouble.
“In the second half of their innings they scored over 130 runs in 11 overs. I don’t think we played badly or we bowled poorly or missed any catches. I have to give Mandeep and AB the credit, they just batted us out of the game. I think they scored about 20 runs over par.”
Death bowling has been Rajasthan’s Achilles Heel his summer and Upton said unless they address that, things will be difficult. “We have struggled in that department. We’ve put in a lot of work on it, did a lot of thinking but the weakness just kept flashing regularly. A lot of teams noticed that and took advantage of it by putting pressure on our death bowling. If we are conceding such big runs at the end, we’re giving away a big advantage to opposition.”
Over the last two years, Rajasthan have been forced to shift their home base -- Jaipur -- for various reasons and Upton felt that it made an impact on the team.